with Steve Lydon,
former England Lacrosse Senior Men's Head Coach;
former Boston College High School (MA) Head Coach;
2018 MIAA Division I State Champions;
3x South Sectional Champions ('16, '17, '18);
as a player, was a 3x team captain for Providence College

If you're looking to improve the offensive skills of your team, this video featuring coach Steve Lydon is a great choice, especially if your program runs a motion offense. Coach Lydon lays out how to create your motion offense with simple drills that can be used every day in practice. You'll learn how to use situation drills instead of line drills to build your offense, how to develop a two-man game offensive concepts, and you'll also receive a series of competitive drills that will help your players execute in game scenarios.

Philosophy and Skill Series

Lydon's philosophy is simple: all drills are used to build components of his team's offensive scheme. Everything is contested, and you'll get fast-moving drills that keep your practices moving to avoid wasting valuable time. Coach Lydon does an excellent job explaining the purpose and key points behind each drill so you can immediately take what he's show and apply it to your own team.

The exercises included in Lydon's skill series include:

• Sweep and Pass
• Shallow Cut and Shoot (High & Low)
• Pop and Swing
• Pop and Shoot

Offensive Competitive

Once the skill series is completed, Coach Lydon moves onto his offensive competitive drills. These drills pit offensive players against defensive players. They include:

• Crease 3v2
• 1-11 Groundballs
• Sideways 4v3

The Sideways 4v3 drill is especially good to work on reading the defensive slide and making quick passes. Offensive players draw the slide and make a choice to skip pass or throw to adjacent players with the goal of not making more than three passes before finding the open play down low on the backside.

Coach Lydon has put together a great video on offensive skills and drills that will benefit any coach who runs a motion offense. The exercises are especially good for the high school level and above.

60 minutes. 2020.

featuring:

John Danowski,
Duke University Head Coach;
first D-I men's lacrosse coach ever to reach 400 wins;3x NCAA champions, including back-to-back seasons (2013-14);2x NCAA Men's Lacrosse Coach of the Year;seven ACC regular season titles and four ACC tournament titles; Team USA Head Coach; 2018 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Men's World Championship (Gold medal)

Ron Caputo,
Duke University Assistant Coach;
part of three NCAA Championships as an assistant with Duke;
works closely with the defense;
led two players to 1st team All America status and one to ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors

Matt Danowski,
Duke University Assistant Coach;
works closely with the attackmen;
as a player was the NCAA's all-time leading scorer;
2007 National Player of the Year;
2007 recipient of the Tewaaraton Trophy and the USILA Lt. Raymond J. Enners Award;
2x USILA Lt. Col. J.I. Turnbull Award (nation's top attackman);
4X MLL All-Star

Ned Crotty,
Duke University Volunteer Assistant Coach:
works closely with the defense;
2010 Tewaaraton Award winner (Duke);
2009 USILA's Lt. Col. J.I. Turnbull Award (nation's top attackman);
plays in the Premier Lacrosse League;
is a member of the U.S. Men's National Team;
3x MLL All-Star

Planning for the preseason can be a stressful task for any coach, no matter how many years of experience they possess. The window of time between the first practice and the first game provides a critical opportunity to establish standards, build culture and strengthen fundamentals. This video featuring John Danowski and three other assistant coaches from his staff at Duke University presents a comprehensive plan for how best to maximize the time available for optimum team improvement and performance. You'll learn how to be sure your team is fully prepared before the first game begins.

Before beginning the season, coaches must identify both the tangibles (staff, personnel and resources) and the intangibles (physical, mental and emotional readiness of players) within their program for the upcoming season. This presentation explains how to address these concerns while also taking a big picture look at the preseason, plus a micro look at how best to utilize smaller increments of practice time.

Instructional Time and Team Meetings

Coach Danowski's segment on how to make the most of team meeting time is quite useful, as few coaches take the time and energy required to plan these meetings effectively. In the preseason, when fields are shared and weather is unpredictable, team meetings provide invaluable instructional time. You'll see how to make every minute of your team meetings count.

Team Standards and Daily Priorities

Establishing standards of play and priorities is essential to an effective team culture and performance. This video outlines how to establish those standards and how to embed them in the minds of your players.

Furthermore, you'll find out how to create practice priorities and daily priorities. The Duke coaching staff focuses more on establishing standards and priorities rather than on drills and skills. Their extensive preseason checklist is sure to include items that even the most experienced coaches overlook.

Many coaches look at the preseason and feel overwhelmed, not knowing where to begin. If a team cannot plan well and lacks a positive culture, skills and strategies become obsolete. This video is an excellent resource for coaches looking to make effective use of their most valuable resource: time. Coach Danowski shares how to plan effectively to make the most of every minute in the preseason.

77 minutes. 2020.

with Janine Tucker,
Johns Hopkins University Head Women's Coach;
Director of Tucker Lacrosse;
5x IWLCA Regional Coach of the Year;
10x NCAA Tournament appearances (6x Division I, 4x Division III);
all-time winningest coach in Johns Hopkins history;
in 2016, became the ninth coach in NCAA Division I history to reach 250 career wins;
member of the Positive Coaching Alliance National Board of Advisors;
member of the Collegiate Officials Association (COA);
member of the U.S. Lacrosse Long-term Lacrosse Athlete Development Model Committee

Individual offensive skills are required to build and improve any team offense. This video featuring Johns Hopkins' Janine Tucker teaches the techniques you'll need to build elite attackers. Coach Tucker walks you through a series of drills her team uses to build a world-class offense and provides plenty of coaching tips to help you get the most out of her exercises.

Offensive + Shooting Drills

Tucker begins with the "True North Drill" that contains a 3v2 to 4v3 format. She loves using this drill because everyone gets the chance to play everywhere, it promotes over-communication, and players have to think fast in order to succeed. Next, you'll see the "Inside Out Hard Corners" exercise that incorporates a curl out, split dodge, and ball reversal to train better stickwork.

Coach Tucker provides four separate shooting drills, each with different wrinkles to improve your team. The drills include:

• 4 Line 2 Cage Criss-Cross Drill
• 3 Line 2 Cage Flip Drill
• 2 Cage Cut, Pick, Flash
• 2v2 to 3v2 Throwback

These drills will put players through many reps and test their ability to score the ball.

Clearing & Competitive Drills

The "Charles Street Clearing" drill works offensive players and defenders and will help your team get better at making decisions under pressure, getting open, and taking away clearing opportunities. Tucker's "BC Clearing" is another great exercise that emphasizes her desire to have her defenders start their offense, with the middies and attackers finishing the job on the other end of the field.

Lastly, Tucker includes three competitive drills that will ramp up the intensity of your practices: Gonzaga, Pre-Game Ground Ball, and Half Field Draw to Scramble.

Coach Tucker's expertise shines in this video and your team will be sure to benefit from her shooting, stickwork, feeding, clearing and competitive drills. Increase your squad's offensive abilities today!

85 minutes. 2020.

with Janine Tucker,
Johns Hopkins University Head Women's Coach;
Director of Tucker Lacrosse;
5x IWLCA Regional Coach of the Year;
10x NCAA Tournament appearances (6x Division I, 4x Division III);
all-time winningest coach in Johns Hopkins history;
in 2016, became the ninth coach in NCAA Division I history to reach 250 career wins;
member of the Positive Coaching Alliance National Board of Advisors;
member of the Collegiate Officials Association (COA);
member of the U.S. Lacrosse Long-term Lacrosse Athlete Development Model Committee

Janine Tucker, head women's lacrosse coach at Johns Hopkins University and one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I history, brings you into her method of developing defenders at Johns Hopkins. With a focus on improving footwork, developing a strong mindset, and increasing communication, Coach Tucker shows you how to develop a cohesive helping defense as well as one that is instrumental in starting your offense.

Footwork and Stickwork

An important defensive focus at Johns Hopkins is footwork. Coach Tucker makes the point that "your stickwork is only as good as your footwork" and through a series of three drills demonstrates how she teaches these skills together to her team.

Help Defense Awareness and Communication

Communication is another defensive focus for Coach Tucker. You'll see her emphasize defensive communication throughout the 12 drills presented. Additionally, you will watch Tucker place her defense in scenarios in which they need to read the play, communicate effectively, and react as a unit in order to be successful.

Start the Attack

Through a set of three drills, you will discover how to improve your defenders' ability to use their defensive skills to jump-start your offense. Whether from a goalie clear or securing a loose ball, see how Coach Tucker trains her defenders to quickly look up field for transition options to start a counter-attack.

Tiger Ground Ball Drill

In this highly-competitive drill that ties many of the concepts in this video together, defenders battle 1v1 for a ground ball and quickly look for an "added" teammate. This drill works on cleanly picking up a ground ball and quickly looking for an open teammate, who must have great off-ball movement.

This video from Coach Tucker will show you how she develops defenders by focusing on the concepts of footwork, angles, mindset and communication. The white board segments associated with each field session, along with highlighted coaching points, will help you develop your defenders rapidly.

121 minutes. 2020.

with John Sung,
Virginia Tech Head Women's Coach;
led VT to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018;
former Winthrop University Head Women's Coach;
2x Big South regular season and Tournament champions ('15, '16);
2x Big South Coach of the Year ('15, '16);
former NCAA Division I Lacrosse Committee chair;
member of the U.S. Lacrosse Convention Education Committee

If you establish good fundamentals with your team, your program will have a higher baseline of success. This video from Virginia Tech's John Sung provides several drills that will give your players the opportunity to work on their fundamentals both offensively and defensively. Sung's drills progress from individual play, to small sided play, to larger full field concepts. Sung demands good footwork and stick work from his players, both of which are essential building blocks to having a successful offense and defense.

Drill Work

The Teamwork 1v1 drill, and variations thereof, provide several opportunities to work on skills that are essential to the game of lacrosse. The variations of the drill (starting off of a pass, starting off of a ground ball, starting off of a skip pass) are all realistic, game-like situations that allow your attack to focus on fundamentals with stick and ball protection. At the same time, your defense can work on their footwork, their awareness of where the ball is and how they need to react to their player/ball. The exercises shown by Coach Sung give ample opportunity for correction of a player's footwork and body positioning without disrupting the flow of the drill. Additionally, his drills provide plenty of reps to all members of the team (attackers, defenders and goalies).

The 3v2 Blitz drill is a great drill to progress to from 1v1's. It includes disguised conditioning/fitness which helps keep your team in game shape. Additionally, the drill provides a competitive piece which makes players work harder and push each other, which in turn will help your team get better overall. Sung highlights certain performance aspects of the player demonstrators in the drill, which is great to follow and learn from as a coach.

'Clearing Landmines' is a clearing exercise which calls for your attacker to defend and ride your defenders, while calling for your defenders to be good ball handlers and keep their eyes down field to avoid the "landmines." This drill helps attackers reinforce their ability to defend and encourages the defenders to play through if there is a turnover. By asking the attackers to force the defenders towards cones (landmines) scattered throughout the field, you will teach them to be more reactive and to think on their feet, rather then having everything be scripted/choreographed.

Coaching Feedback

You'll see Coach Sung and his assistants offer feedback to players throughout the video, which is great for the viewer because it points out areas of improvement that aren't always identified when introducing the drill. A total of 13 drills are included and start with basic, but important concepts of 1v1's. The video progresses on to building up to 3v2 drills, introduces a sideline trap with a 5v4 drill, and finishes with full 7v7. This progression will allow you to build your practice in a practical manner, starting small and ending with larger field concepts. Additionally, each drill introduced by Coach Sung gives ample opportunity to discuss the various offensive and defensive concepts that each player needs to be able to understand.

Coach Sung shows how to build from fundamental individual concepts to larger full field concepts. The drills in this video can be simplified or enhanced to fit any level of play. Sung places a big emphasis on his on-field coaching, explanation of the drills and the importance of key components, which will help you lead your team to be more well-rounded and successful in the seasons ahead!

87 minutes. 2020.